Volunteer pilots fly ‘non-stop’ to reach PNG earthquake survivors | earthquake news

With limited government resources, many rescue efforts have been undertaken by individuals and small businesses.

Air bridges to remote areas of Papua New Guinea have been operated nonstop as volunteer rescue workers try to reach victims still stranded two days after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake.

The earthquake, which struck on Sunday at around 9:45 a.m. local time (23:45 GMT Saturday), killed at least seven people and damaged infrastructure and private property, although the exact scale of the disaster has only begun to emerge. slowly. workers said.

The earthquake was felt 500 kilometers (310 miles) away in the capital, Port Moresby.

Pilot Jürgen Roh, owner of Manolos Aviation Ltd., told AFP on Tuesday that he had “missed” the number of medical evacuations he had conducted since the earthquake.

“It’s not over yet,” Roh said, as he prepared to head out for two more flights of medical planes in the country’s remote highlands.

With government resources limited, many rescue efforts were carried out by small private companies and volunteers.

Among those rescued, Roh said, “the youngest is a two-year-old,” adding that the girl who had a skull fracture survived after emergency surgery.

The pilot said his company has received direct calls from people in need of evacuation, adding that in Papua New Guinea, “if you don’t help yourself, no one will help you.”

The International Federation of the Red Cross, Maki Igarashi, told AFP that it was “extremely difficult” to reach many of the sites due to the remoteness of the affected areas.

Papua New Guinea’s Red Cross Secretary-General Falchi Qualiata said on Monday that the region’s rugged mountainous terrain has made access difficult, as the hardest-hit areas are not accessible by car.

At least 389 homes have collapsed in Madang city alone, according to estimates by United Nations experts currently on the ground. The United Nations said it expects reports of damage from the earthquake to rise as staff reach other communities.

Watch the mountain disappear

Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

Sunday’s earthquake was the most powerful earthquake to hit the Pacific nation since 2002, but it claimed far fewer lives than the 145 earthquake in 2018.

Papua New Guinea authorities have confirmed that all seven deaths were caused by landslides near the coast of Ray, Kamboom and Wau, in which three miners were killed after being trapped underground.

Roh said some pilots were airlifting her pregnant mother when the earthquake struck, and while flying her to safety, they “saw the side of the mountain disappearing.”

Igarashi of the Red Cross said the internet and power outages in the aftermath of the quake made it difficult to get a complete picture of the situation on the ground.

Ramu Hydroelectric Power Station, located near the epicenter, was damaged by the quake, and internet service slowed down significantly due to the impact on submarine cables.

The US Tsunami Warning System issued an alert after the quake, but later said the danger was over.

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